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Spark	By : DivineAngel Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 20930 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 21
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Chapter 22: Russian
Roulette

Severus slid the mask
over his face, adjusted his cloak and cast a quick glance around to
ensure no one had seen him. He disapparated from his spot down the
side alley next to the Three Broomsticks, reappearing in the old hall
with marble pillars. It was dark except for a small pool of pre-dusk
light seeping in through the glass dome ceiling in the centre of the
hall. He was the first to arrive and he walked slowly around the
hall, wand drawn, the dust on the floor had scuff marks and
footprints in it from their previous meeting and he noted that the
blood from the sacrifice hadn't been cleaned up, a dry pool still
staining the chequered floor. There was an uncomfortable smell of
stale air and blood and something else more foul. Severus raised the
back of his hand to his nose and cleared his throat, the sound
echoing around the empty space.

He tossed his cloak
across one shoulder, freeing his arm and removed two vials from his
pocket, one green one containing the power stripping potion, the
other red and holding a particularly nasty brew that Voldemort had
requested for the purpose of an initiation. Severus suspected that it
would be Draco, but he had no concrete basis for that, so he had made
himself reserve concern until he knew for certain.

He conjured a small,
round table, a bottle of red wine and two silver goblets. He poured
the wine into the identical goblets and emptied the two vials, one
into each goblet. This ludicrous game of Russian Roulette that
Voldemort insisted on for every initiation was Severus' only way to
implement the plan. For as long as he'd been trusted by the Dark Lord
Severus had performed this little ritual, knowing that to his master
this was no game of Russian Roulette, he won every time and not by
accident. He was reasonably confident that Voldemort was oblivious to
his knowledge of the truth, he pretended to be on tenterhooks with
everyone else until the new initiate was lying on the floor
convulsing. At which point Severus would typically amble forward and
slowly administer the antidote.

Tonight would be
different, however. Voldemort's wine was now laced with the crucial
potion that had consumed Severus since the previous summer and had,
quite surprisingly, led him to the vulnerable position of being very
much involved with a student.

A sudden series of pops
signalled the arrival of a dozen Death Eaters, clearly none of them
were concerned about being early, arriving promptly at five thirty.
Severus smirked and moved among the other cloaked figures, noting the
presence of all the usual suspects; Avery, Macnair, Crabb, Goyle,
Nott, Malfoy. He stopped in his tracks and clenched his fists at the
sight of the figure beside Lucius; almost a foot shorter, his voice
distinctive as the pair talked animatedly. He gritted his teeth and
moved to do what must be done.

'Lucius.' He inclined his
head towards the despicable blond.

'Ah, Severus. Tonight's
the big night for you, isn't it?' He hissed. 'As of tomorrow you
won't have to bow to that muggle-lover, Dumbledore, ever again.'
Severus felt a muscle in his clenched jaw twitch.

'I see you brought young
Draco.' Draco puffed out his chest and stood tall, giving Severus a
nod in acknowledgement.

Severus felt fear for the
stupid boy, but knew he had to put it aside and focus on doing his
job. Once the Order arrived he would be able to think about getting
Draco out alive. Another series of pops announced the arrival of the
rest of the Death Eaters and a single pop a moment later right in the
middle of the room caused all to turn and form a rapid circle around
Voldemort as his cloak settled around him. Severus took a deep breath
and waited, lightly thumbing the small, empty vial in his pocket.

'Welcome, my loyal
followers, and newcomers.' His face contorted into a sickly smile and
he bowed his head in Draco's direction. 'We are gathered here
tonight, as you all know, to finally claim what is ours and take our
places in charge of the wizarding world and finally put the muggles
where they belong!' His serpentine voice wooed the crowd and had them
cheering by the end of his short speech. 'We are also to welcome
young Draco Malfoy. Come forward, my boy.' Voldemort extended his
arms as Draco stepped forward, looking somewhat awkward in the cloak
and mask and Severus rolled his eyes at the fatherly manner with
which Voldemort addressed the boy. He knew that it wouldn't last past
tonight, even were the attack upon them not imminent.

Severus was painfully
aware of the minutes ticking by and felt his foot begin to tap
impatiently and immediately stopped it. He took a deep breath again
and steadied his body, he hadn't come this far, been a spy for this
long only to give himself away by getting nervous now. The crowd was
applauding as Voldemort and Draco moved to stand either side of the
small table that Severus had conjured, Draco removed his mask and
placed it on the table. Undoubtedly Lucius had told his son what he
would face and prepared him for the potion he was about to ingest.
The Pestilence Potion was one of the most foul potions Severus had
ever encountered, while not fatal directly, it was certainly possible
to die from the extreme pain or to go into a wild enough fit to throw
oneself into a fire or some other disastrous consequence. Severus
patted his pocket to ensure he had the antidote safely tucked away.

Draco and Voldemort each
took a goblet and lifted it into a toast, a cruel smile on the Dark
Lord's snake-like face and visible terror in Draco's. Severus watched
eagerly as the two very different men sipped from identical goblets,
tipping them back and draining the contents in increasingly large
gulps. Voldemort lowered his and placed it upside down on the table,
demonstrating that he had in fact drained it dry, while Draco's
goblet fell to the floor with a clatter as he lost control of his
limbs and began to convulse. Severus realised he'd been holding his
breath as he suddenly released it in a single heavy gush. He held
himself back from rushing to young Malfoy's side and chanced a glance
at his watch. It was six o'clock. Severus felt his stomach flip over,
nerves suddenly washing over him and he looked desperately at Draco,
writhing on the floor, feeling sick from the jeers and applause
coming from the gathered Death Eaters.

Voldemort looked on with
a frown, Severus watched him look down at his hands with a look of
confusion etched on his face. A moment later the look was gone and he
was enjoying watching the new initiate convulse in pain before him.
Severus looked around the room, taking in the cloaked figures and
performing a rapid head count, sixteen including Voldemort and not
himself. His breath was growing far too shallow and short for his
liking and he tried hard to steady it. He had never felt like this
before, he had always prided himself on keeping cool in every
situation and had only ever once felt anything resembling panic and
that was the night he returned to Voldemort's side after first
meeting with Dumbledore and agreeing to turn spy.

He couldn't wait any
longer or someone would notice how on edge he was. He stepped forward
as calmly as he could manage and whipped out the vial containing the
antidote to the Pestilence Potion. He knelt at Draco's side and held
him steady with one hand while forcing the hot liquid down the boy's
throat.

'Draco?' He hissed,
bending low and ignoring the disappointed jeers from around the room.
'Draco, listen to me. You will feel very weak for a few minutes.' The
boy's grey eyes were half-closed and rolled up in his head. He let
out a low moan and shuddered in Severus' grip. Severus felt a shadow
move over him and the weight of a hand upon his shoulder.

'Snape. Leave the boy be.
He will be ready in time to leave.' Severus stood and met the Dark
Lord's penetrating eyes, his very best defences in place as always.
He stepped aside as Voldemort broke the eye contact with a smirk on
his thin lips. 'Young Malfoy has passed his first test. After he
makes his first kill tonight he will be given the Mark and invited to
feast on the spoils with the rest of us!' He cried out to the
sycophantic assembly. The Death Eaters erupted into enthusiastic
applause and Severus looked beyond the circle surrounding him,
Voldemort and Draco, into the shadows between the dusty pillars. His
face melted into and he nodded slowly once as he caught sight of a
pair of piercing white eyes in the dark, the figure stepped forward,
emerging from the shadows and black skin filled out the face around
those eyes as Kingsley Shacklebolt advanced.

Severus grabbed his wand
from inside his cloak and with great pleasure pointed it right at
Lucius Malfoy. Without a word he flicked his wand and watched as
Lucius' arms snapped to his sides and he fell to the floor with a
thunk. The circle became deathly silent for a split second before
figures emerged from the shadows all around them and the whole room
burst into frantic movement and screams.

Hermione ran out from
behind the pillar behind which she'd been hiding with Harry. The two
of them charged forward as members from both sides clashed, both
physically and magically. Hermione threw an impediment curse at one
advancing Death Eater and a Leg-Locker curse at another, bringing
both to a halt and the latter to his knees. To her left Kingsley was
firing off curses and behind her she heard Charlie Weasley shouting,
Harry was on her right, his wand directly pointed at Voldemort
through the throng. Hermione spotted Bellatrix running at Harry
screaming wildly and she shoved Harry aside quickly and pointed her
wand at the wicked woman.

'Silencio!' She cried,
causing Bellatrix's scream to catch in her throat and all sound was
cut off from her. Stunned, the Death Eater stopped and looked
confused. She raised her wand to strike without words and Hermione
pre-empted her. 'Petrificus totalus!' She cried and smiled as
Bellatrix fell to the floor like a plank. She caught sight of Molly
running around the hall quickly binding fallen Death Eaters and
tending to injured Order members. Mundungus was down, propped up
against a pillar with a nasty gash in his chest and Hestia Jones was
lying very still indeed. Hermione flinched and looked around,
catching sight of Voldemort in the thick of things. His wand was
drawn and he looked livid, he was screaming and pointing, shoving
Death Eaters into the path of curses to defend himself. He was
clearly powerless and Hermione's eyes sped across the dark figures in
search of Severus. She found him duelling with a horribly familiar
face, Macnair, who looked suitably hollowed out from his stay in
Azkaban.

Crabbe and Goyle were
taking on Moody, to no avail, the old Auror taking the dim-witted duo
out with a series of well timed hexes. A bright jet of purple scraped
Hermione's arm and she turned to see Dolohov advancing, a wicked grin
on his twisted features. Most of the Death Eaters had discarded their
masks or had them knocked from their faces in the furore. Before she
could act, another of those nasty purple flashes came her way and she
leapt aside to avoid it. Looking back she saw Ron dart out from a
concealed spot and hit Dolohov full on with a blasting hex. The Death
Eater flew several feet in the air and landed on his back with a
terrible crunch, indicating that several bones had broken and when he
tried to move he cried out in agony.

'Get up Hermione!' Ron
called out before running to help Bill take on the Lestrange
brothers. Hermione got to her feet and looked desperately for Harry,
who she was meant to be backing up. He was advancing on Voldemort,
cursing anyone that twitched near him, narrowly missing Tonks.
Hermione headed towards him, glancing back to where she had last seen
Severus, he was still battling the old executioner and Hermione felt
a sudden wave of conflict. Should she pursue Harry or help Severus?
Pausing for just a moment she pressed on after Harry and tried
blasting a couple of Death Eaters herself, having seen how effective
Ron's effort had been.

Across the hall Ginny was
making good use of her famous Bat-Bogey Hex and Neville was engaged
in a fierce battle with Avery, with Luna backing him up. Hermione
dodged a few green flashes, her heart pounding in her chest as she
caught up with Harry and blocked a nasty curse directed at him by
Mulciber. The Death Eaters had begun using the killing curse, she
could hear cries of “Avada kedavra” from all corners and
fear choked her suddenly. Harry had gotten within feet of Voldemort,
who was still shouting orders and looking desperate.

Hermione stumbled on a
limb in her path and looked down to she Hannah Abbot lying face down
and limp, a cry rose in her chest and stuck in her throat as she
pressed her hand to her mouth to stifle it. She felt tears stinging
her eyes and blinked furiously to dispel them as she leaned forward
and grabbed the back of Harry's robes, pulling him back.

'What's wrong? Hermione?
Are you hurt?' He asked, catching hold of her arms. Hermione pointed
at the girl lying dead on the floor, lost for words and Harry pulled
her away back to the edge of the room and behind a pillar,
sacrificing his advantageous position. He pressed Hermione's back to
the pillar and gave her a shake, her wide mouth and tear soaked face
gradually relaxed and she let out an audible sob.

'Hannah!'

'Hermione. Stop. Pull it
together.' He shook her and Hermione fixed her eyes on his, coming
out of her shock.

'OK, I'm OK.' She said
shakily. Together they peered around the pillar and looked at the
carnage before them, several figures lay dead, quite a few Death
Eaters were bound and being guarded by Moody while Molly continued to
try and clear the dead and injured from the middle of the room. They
definitely had the advantage of numbers, but a few of Voldemort's
followers now had him surrounded on the far side of the room and were
defending themselves well against Order attacks. Their fellow
students were regrouping and Hermione noticed that their number was
smaller, spotting both Seamus and Padma Patil lying wounded near to
Molly. Of the Order, the Weasleys were all still fighting, Kingsley
Shacklebolt, Tonks and Snape were still fighting, while McGonagall
sat holding her arm in the middle of the room. Dumbledore, she
noticed, was standing back watching, she didn't know if he had fired
a single spell or not and fought back a wave of fury.

They were losing. They
had been forced back to the edge of the room while Voldemort stood
protected behind a pillar on the far side.

'We have to do
something.' Harry said suddenly, he was looking frantically around
for a plan. He grabbed Hermione's hand and ran towards the other
Order members, a jet of purple narrowly missing them and they skidded
to their knees next to the gathered wounded. The DA followed suit and
piled in behind Harry and Hermione. Molly was trying to levitate
McGonagall off the battlefield, but was having to dodge hexes.
Kingsley stepped out and gave her covering fire and the deputy
headmistress was brought to safety.

'Sir? What are we going
to do? They've got us pinned down!' Hermione implored the headmaster.
Dumbledore nodded serenely, seemingly unruffled by this.

'Indeed they have. Miss
Granger. But it seems that your potion worked a treat.' He smiled
down at her and Hermione wanted to wretch. How could he smile at a
time like this?

Severus surveyed the
scene. It looked bleak. They had a handful of Death Eaters in
custody, but there were still too many standing for his liking,
especially now that his cover was well and truly blown. The potion
worked though, that at least was something in their favour. He sought
out Draco, he sat hunched and weeping behind the clump of cloaked
figures surrounding Voldemort and Severus felt a pang of something
for the boy. Was it guilt? No, he had to feed him the potion and
there was nothing he could have done to prevent Draco's involvement.
But now, now he had to do something.

He patted Arthur on the
shoulder and nodded in Draco's direction. Arthur looked and saw the
boy, he turned and gave Severus a pained expression but nodded in
agreement, picking up from Severus what he intended to do. The two
men stepped out and began firing hexes at the Death Eaters, advancing
slowly but surely. Severus became aware of support from behind them,
probably form Shacklebolt and Tonks. For a split second he wondered
if Hermione was one of the people casting hexes over his shoulder but
he shook off the thought. He couldn't allow himself to think of her
now, it might well get one or both of them killed. He fixed his eyes
on Draco and willed the boy to look up and meet his gaze. He did so,
locking his tear-filled eyes onto his godfather's and Severus
focussed on what he wanted Draco to do, slowly a look of recognition
appeared on the boy's face and he slid his back up the wall, standing
slowly and lifted his wand.

Severus broke the eye
contact and dove forward, firing off a blasting hex at the group of
Death Eaters, Avery and Nott went flying, breaking the tight circle
and exposing Voldemort in the chaos. Draco directed his wand at a
fleeing Wormtail and caught him in a body-bind, bringing the wretch
face first to the floor. Severus charged forward to grab Draco,
diving forward between Death Eaters.

Hermione watched as if
the world were moving in slow motion as Arthur Weasley dodged a
vicious attack and with a look of steely resolve he pointed his wand
through the gap where Nott and Avery had been standing and although
she didn't hear the words through the mayhem, the green flash that
shot from his wand and hit the withered form of Voldemort full in the
chest was unmistakable.

Harry lurched beside her
as Voldemort fell, a look of rage etched on his snake-like features
as he crumpled to the floor. She caught hold of Harry's chest as he
cried out and tried to run forward, the room fell silent and still
but for a single jet of purple light already fired by Dolohov. Still
slow and dreamlike, Hermione's eyes followed the jet and watched in
horror as it zig-zagged between two Death Eaters towards a diving
Severus and sliced into his gut. He fell to the floor with a
terrible cry and Hermione screamed, the world suddenly catching up to
itself.

AN: OK, so not the
last chapter after all. It sort of took on a life of its own while
writing it and got a little lengthy! Thank you so much for the fab
reviews, I was especially touched by takemeaway – thank you!
So, what do you think?! [Hit “review” button now]
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